Winton, Cumbria

Winton is a village and civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England. It is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) south of Brough, and 1.6 miles (2.6 km) north of Kirkby Stephen, and has a population of 213,[1] increasing to 327 at the 2011 Census.[2] The word Winton is Old English or Anglo-Saxon in origin, Wyntuna meaning a pasture farmstead was first identified in 1094, shortly after the Norman Conquest, during a period known as the 'Harrying of the North'. [3] On 12 April 1659, the village of Winton was at the centre of the Westmorland witch trials, during which several women were hanged at Appleby General Sessions, found guilty of bewitching Margaret Bousefield.[4]

Winton
Millennium Monument
Winton Location within Cumbria
Population	327 (2011(including Kaber))
OS grid reference	NY7810
Civil parish	Winton
District	Eden
Shire county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KIRKBY STEPHEN
Postcode district	CA17
Dialling code	01768
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Penrith and the Border

During the Middle Ages Winton was at the centre of the sheep rearing in the Eden Valley, where the flocks moved across the hills into pastures new. More controversial was the part played by the Archbishop of York in dealing with invasions by Scots armies, raiding, looting and burning, sheep-stealing. On 5 October 1357 the local bishop was required to accept the redemption of King David Bruce of Scotland, for the Suffragan Michael of York held sway in the mountains of the West March.[5][6]

Both Kirkby Stephen and the village of Winton had a grammar school each, where its major benefactor was a Cambridge educated teacher. Richard Burn helped found the free school that took all children from the neighbouring parishes.